Neighborhood watch captain shoots innocent black youth and doesn't even get arrested

[Bump]

This is some ****ED UP SHIT, they aren't sure if the racist neighborhood watch idiot should be arrested? If anything, local gangs might take notice of this and start shooting up that neighborhood or just random white neighborhoods. I could never live in the south, it's ridiculous. The guy shoots an innocent teen walking to the store to buy skittles. Should be life in prison, that's cold blood man.

http://news.yahoo.com/family-florida...044537742.html




ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - The family of a 17-year-old African-American boy shot to death last month in his gated Florida community by a white Neighborhood Watch captain wants to see the captain arrested, the family's lawyer said on Wednesday.

Trayvon Martin was shot dead after he took a break from watching NBA All-Star game television coverage to walk 10 minutes to a convenience store to buy snacks including Skittles candy requested by his 13-year-old brother, Chad, the family's lawyer Ben Crump said.

"He was a good kid," Crump said in an interview, adding that the family would issue a call for the Watch captain's arrest at a news conference on Thursday. "On his way home, a Neighborhood Watch loose cannon shot and killed him."

[Related: Fla. teen avoids deportation]

Trayvon, who lived in Miami with his mother, had been visiting his father and stepmother in a gated townhome community called The Retreat at Twin Lakes in Sanford, 20 miles north of Orlando.

As Trayvon returned to the townhome, Sanford police received a 911 call reporting a suspicious person.

Although names are blacked out on the police report, Crump and media reports at the time of the shooting identified the caller as George Zimmerman who is listed in the community's newsletter as the Neighborhood Watch captain.

Without waiting for police to arrive, Crump said, Zimmerman confronted Trayvon, who was on the sidewalk near his home. By the time police got there, Trayvon was dead of a single gunshot to the chest.

"What do the police find in his pocket? Skittles," Crump said. "A can of Arizona ice tea in his jacket pocket and Skittles in his front pocket for his brother Chad."

Zimmerman could not be reached for comment on Wednesday evening at a phone number listed for him on the community's newsletter.

Crump said the family was concerned that police might decide to consider the shooting as self defense, and that police have ignored the family's request for a copy of the original 911 call, which they think will shed light on the incidents.

"If the 911 protocol across the country held to form here, they told him not to get involved. He disobeyed that order," said Ryan Julison, a spokesman for the family.

"He (Zimmerman) didn't have to get out of his car," said Crump, who has prepared a public records lawsuit to file on Thursday if the family doesn't get the 911 tape. "If he never gets out of his car, there is no reason for self-defense. Trayvon only has skittles. He has the gun."

Since Trayvon, a high school junior who wanted to be a pilot, was black and Zimmerman is white, Crump said race is "the 600 pound elephant in the room."

"Why is this kid suspicious in the first place? I think a stereotype must have been placed on the kid," Crump said.

(Editing By Cynthia Johnston and Peter Bohan)

[Lbedrock1]

Originally Posted by blaise

Yeah, those white people. Racists.

I guess what I do not get is why he confronted him. If there was a lot of breakins happening or a lot of crime maybe, but blacks are not the only ones to commit crimes. If they were so concerned they should have hire a Guard at the gate and that way they would have known that he had a reason to be there. The guy appraoched the kid wrong and the kid didnt know who he was and got in defense mode and the f***ing guy shot him instead of backing off. His AZZ should fry if for no other reason then to teach people when you do the confronting, you might as well be the criminal if you have to pull a trigger.

[blaise]

Originally Posted by Lbedrock1

I guess what I do not get is why he confronted him. If there was a lot of breakins happening or a lot of crime maybe, but blacks are not the only ones to commit crimes. If they were so concerned they should have hire a Guard at the gate and that way they would have known that he had a reason to be there. The guy appraoched the kid wrong and the kid didnt know who he was and got in defense mode and the f***ing guy shot him instead of backing off. His AZZ should fry if for no other reason then to teach people when you do the confronting, you might as well be the criminal if you have to pull a trigger.

I'm not defending the shooter. I was just wondering the motivation for saying it was "typical".

[Lbedrock1]

Originally Posted by COchief

I'm sure the teenager calmly explained that he was a resident of the neighborhood and that he was just on a trip from the store. I'm sure that his reaction to the shooter when confronted initially, and then later when the gun was pulled was nothing but polite and professional and had nothing to do with why he got shot.

This story isn't written in a biased and inflammatory fashion what so ever, "he was a nice boy, all he wanted was to be an airline pilot, and was just getting some skittles for his wittle brother". I'm sure when we hear the other side of the story, things might become just a tad bit more clear. I'm also sure it might explain why the shooter has yet to be charged, police departments aren't that stupid, they know the situation and if there is not just cause there will certainly be a media circus involved.

What if I came to your nieghborhood and ask you what the hell are you doing here? Would you politely tell me well sir I live in this nieghborhood? Even if I was not rude about asking you, you might take offense to someone asking you about why you are in a place you had reason to be in his father lived there so the shooter had no right to approach. You are assuming the shooter was polite and the Black teen had a attitude, which I'm sure he did take offense but most people would have a problem with someone asking why they are somewhere they have a right to be. He should have waited for the police to get it straightened out and the teen would not have lost his life. So what if he was polite? The guy did not have a legal right to approach the kid wasn't doing anything but walking. Oh and I just checked that is not a crime.

[-King-]

Originally Posted by COchief

I'm sure the teenager calmly explained that he was a resident of the neighborhood and that he was just on a trip from the store. I'm sure that his reaction to the shooter when confronted initially, and then later when the gun was pulled was nothing but polite and professional and had nothing to do with why he got shot.

This story isn't written in a biased and inflammatory fashion what so ever, "he was a nice boy, all he wanted was to be an airline pilot, and was just getting some skittles for his wittle brother". I'm sure when we hear the other side of the story, things might become just a tad bit more clear. I'm also sure it might explain why the shooter has yet to be charged, police departments aren't that stupid, they know the situation and if there is not just cause there will certainly be a media circus involved.

Other side of the story? Are you ****ing serious. What exactly would it take for the neighborhood watch Commando to have a legitimate reason to shoot the kid?

Did he feel threatened that the kid was going to start throwing skittles on him?

[FAX]

Well, to be fair, getting pegged in the eyeball with a skittle can really sting.

FAX

[Lbedrock1]

Originally Posted by blaise

I'm not defending the shooter. I was just wondering the motivation for saying it was "typical".

Well if you look at statistic whites are able to kill black people and get away with far more that the other way around becasue of the stereotypes that are put on black people. Think about it and then between you and me tell me some of the stereotypes you have and some you have heard. I will not even be offended. When two black men pass each other that don't know each other there is always a level of distrust between them becasue of the stereotype and that is how strong the stereotypes are which is why he says typical. If a stereotype about you is created and is told enough to get you to react to it, what do you think it does to those that do not really know about you?

[Dayze]

PULP CAN MOVE BABY!

[FAX]

Two black men pass each other on the street and express distrust due to stereotypes?

FAX

[Mr. Flopnuts]

Originally Posted by -King-

Other side of the story? Are you ****ing serious. What exactly would it take for the neighborhood watch Commando to have a legitimate reason to shoot the kid?

Did he feel threatened that the kid was going to start throwing skittles on him?

Making him taste the rainbow could be construed as rape. /patteau

[blaise]

Originally Posted by Lbedrock1

Well if you look at statistic whites are able to kill black people and get away with far more that the other way around becasue of the stereotypes that are put on black people. Think about it and then between you and me tell me some of the stereotypes you have and some you have heard. I will not even be offended. When two black men pass each other that don't know each other there is always a level of distrust between them becasue of the stereotype and that is how strong the stereotypes are which is why he says typical. If a stereotype about you is created and is told enough to get you to react to it, what do you think it does to those that do not really know about you?

I'm not sure I get your point. People unfairly stereotype black people. That doesn't make it ok to say it's "typical" of a white suburban resident to do something like this.
You can't say, "Well, they unfairly stereotyped this kid. That's typical of those kind of people." You don't see the hypocrisy in that? One guy shot the kid, no one else.
If someone started a thread about some black teenagers beating up some white guy, and someone posted, "typical" that would be considered a prejudiced statement. I'm just wondering why saying, "typical" here isn't.

[Dayze]

I wonder what the statistics are for people who committ assault/murder with a deadly weapon, who are legal gun owners/ccw; compared to illegal. and by 'illegal' i Mean either owning an illegal gun, or carrying illegally.

[Detoxing]

Knew I shouldn't have read this.

As if I needed more reason to hate old white people...

[El Jefe]

Originally Posted by Wickedson

It's obviously trickling down from suburban police units who pride themselves on no-knock warrants and then simply kill everyone inside the home.

Strip everyone of their guns. It's the only way to stop this shit. How many stories do we need?

Good luck with that

[Fish]

Originally Posted by Lbedrock1

Well if you look at statistic whites are able to kill black people and get away with far more that the other way around becasue of the stereotypes that are put on black people. Think about it and then between you and me tell me some of the stereotypes you have and some you have heard. I will not even be offended. When two black men pass each other that don't know each other there is always a level of distrust between them becasue of the stereotype and that is how strong the stereotypes are which is why he says typical. If a stereotype about you is created and is told enough to get you to react to it, what do you think it does to those that do not really know about you?

.... what statistics are you talking about that list "kill specific race and get away with far more because of sterotypes"?

And on the second bolded sentence... WTF? Black males distrust each other because of stereotypes applied by whites?

[frazod]

Here's a more complete story from the Orlando Sentinel, which the cherry-picked Yahoo piece was obviously drawn from. The Yahoo story omitted many key details. But I'm sure that wasn't intentional or anything.....

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/...,1380794.story

Father: Arrest Sanford crime watch volunteer who killed my son

The father of a 17-year-old who was shot to death in Sanford by a crime watch volunteer held a news conference in Orlando Thursday, demanding that the shooter be arrested and charged with murder.

Trayvon Martin, a high school junior from Miami who is black, was killed Feb. 26, as he walked back from a 7-Eleven with Skittles that he'd bought for a 13-year-old friend. He was unarmed.

Sanford police have interviewed George Zimmerman, the 25-year-old shooter who is white, several times and had him re-enact what happened, Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee Jr. said Thursday.

Both sides agree that Martin and Zimmerman scuffled before the shooting.

Police are still investigating, trying to determine whether Zimmerman is guilty of manslaughter, according to department records. He told them he acted in self defense, and there's some evidence to corroborate that, the police chief said.

Police Thursday released an incident report that gave new clues that support Zimmerman.

When police arrived and found the body, they also found Zimmerman bleeding from the nose and back of his head, according to the report. Also, the back of his shirt was wet and had grass clippings on it, as if he'd been on his back on the ground.

And an officer overheard Zimmerman complain, " 'I was yelling for someone to help me but no one would help me,' " according to the report.

One of the things on which police are focusing is the background noise in a 911 call, the chief said.

"You can hear the struggle and the gunshot," he said.

Police want to enhance the background noise to better hear what went on, he said.

Detectives should complete their investigation next week at the latest, the chief said, and will let the state attorney's office decide whether to file criminal charges.

At the family's news conference in Orlando, lawyers for Martin's family accused Zimmerman of racial profiling.

One of the family's attorneys, Benjamin Crump of Tallahassee, called Zimmerman a "loose cannon" and accused him of shooting Martin in "cold blood".

Zimmerman had spotted Martin in his gated community about 7:15 p.m. and called Sanford police on a non-emergency number, saying he'd just seen a suspicious person, both sides agreed.

That call then ended and police dispatched an officer. Before he arrived, however, the department got several other 911 calls, people complaining about two men fighting and a gunshot.

At the news conference, Crump and Orlando attorney Natalie Jackson said there was nothing suspicious about the 17-year-old. There was no reason for Zimmerman to follow him.

Martin was an invited guest, visiting his father's fiancée and her family for a few days, they said. He had visited there before, and it was a community with black and minority residents.

After Zimmerman called police, Crump and Jackson said, he should have backed off. He should not have confronted the 17-year-old and had no business patrolling his neighborhood, like a cop, with a gun, they said.

The teen's father, Tracy Martin of Miami, called his son's death a "tragic, senseless killing. … We feel justice hasn't been served."